Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

02/01/24 Girls studying agriculture, Decarbonising pork production, Tweed

New figures show a sharp rise in the number of girls studying agriculture at Scottish colleges. Pork producers take action to reduce their carbon footprint.

Labour shortages have long been a problem for agricultural businesses, but there may be some light at the end of the tunnel - with an unexpected rise in the number of teenage girls opting for farming as a career choice. Rural colleges in Scotland are reporting that around half of all agricultural students are now girls. We meet some of the latest intake.

Farmers and food processors are under increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint, in the face of climate change. Pilgrims, which produces nearly 30 percent of all UK pork on more than 300 farms, says it's made significant cuts to greenhouse gas emissions in its processing factories, while increasing sustainability on its farms. Anna Hill talks to the company's head of sustainability to find out what they've been doing to decarbonise the operation.

A Lake District tweed is being made using wool from the flock of sheep at the RSPB’s Wild Haweswater site. The design was inspired by a ‘re-wiggled’ river.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell

13 minutes

Broadcast

  • Tue 2 Jan 2024 05:45

Podcast